History

3 Comments to “History”

Last night when we were closing up the lot, a woman came up to me. She asked if I was the Scoutmaster. When I said I was, she told me she had a donation for our Troop that her mother would have wanted her to make. I knew who her mother was right away. For about the first 18 years I was with the Troop there was this woman who lived in the Hill Top apartments across Roosevelt. She would walk over on the first Sunday in December and buy her tree. A four foot noble, she would get a couple of Scouts to carry her tree to her apartment, The Scouts would fight for the honor. Once at her home, they would put the tree in the stand and put the lights on it for her. She would then feed the Scouts cookies and hot chocolate and ask all about the campouts, hikes and trips we had done over the past year. This would take about an hour. As she got older and when she could not walk across the street she would have a relative or caregiver drive her over and the process would start again. When she could not get out of the car, she would point to trees and have the Scouts bring them to the car for her to look at. She would pull on the needles and smell the tree to see if they were fresh. Once she picked out her tree, a Scout or two would take it to her home and set it up for her. When Safeway was re built and for the two years we were located at Northgate, she would have someone drive her around until she found our Tree Lot. When Safeway reopened she went to the manager and demanded that we be allowed to sell tree in the parking lot again. Four years ago, she did not come to get a tree, we found out from a neighbor she had passed away. I found out this year we were a big part of her Christmas, she would sit and watch the Tree Lot get set up every year, watch the sales on the weekend, and worry about the Scouts when it was cold or raining. She would remind the other residents of the apartments to buy a tree from her Scouts. We were a big part of her Christmas tradition.

So when we think how cold or wet we are, or how little free time we have during the holidays, or the other more fun things we could be doing, or that we want to sleep in. Our Tree Lot is more then just our fundraiser, for many of our customers it’s a part of their Christmas tradition. This year a man came in with his two daughters, one of them was wearing his old Cub Scout shirt with Pack 151 on it. He had worked the tree lot as a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout, every year he bring his girls to buy a tree from us. Every year, I hear stories from customers who bought trees from us when they were kids with the parents and grandparents, and now it’s part of their family traditions. Last year a man in his late 20’s came to the lot with a young woman, Greg had gone to the National Jamboree with me in 1993. He was getting married and this was their first Christmas back in Seattle. This year Greg came back with his son and wife to get a tree, when he left he said “I’ll see you next year Bob”. So as we look at the tree lot as a pain, a chore, or as a waste of time. Our little tree lot, fund raiser, is a big part of the community and many people’s family traditions.

I started selling Christmas Trees when I was 11 as part of my Scout Troop. We had a little shack made of plastic and wood that sat on the parking lot of the local grocery store. The shack didn’t have any place to sit or a door. We used a coffee can for money, and we counted tree on a 3 x 5 card with slash marks. We were expected to be out in the lot at all times, no matter what type of weather we had. We only sold Douglas Fir Trees, and most were Charlie Browns trees. We did not sell wreaths or garland, and we tied the trees to cars using the same type of twine we use today. When I get together with my friends who were scouts in my Troop, we all remember the Tree Lot as fun, we remember the rain, the unloading of trees, the card games played and the all the rules we broke (none of which I will ever tell you about). The Tree Lot is a part of our Scouting Adventure as much as the 50 mile hikes and canoe trips. The last thing I want you to know is the Tree Lot is what got me into Troop 151. I stopped to buy a tree (only because it was a Scout Tree Lot); I notice that the trees came from Hunter Farms, the same tree farm my Troop got their trees from. In talking with Karen Axon (Dick’s wife) and a Scout named Andy, I was invite to attend a camp out and joined Troop 151. When I stopped to buy a tree, I never thought I would be involved in a Scout Troop (let alone a Scoutmaster). I guess I owe it all to the Tree Lot!

I want to thank everyone for helping make this year’s tree sales a success. I know that the Christmas season is a busy time and we ask a lot for each family to give us 40 plus hours for your free time.

To all the people who helped with clean up last night, you did a great job and finished in record time.

A big Thanks to our returning Eagle Scouts, Coner Myhre, Will Ringness and Evan Stillings. They come back every year to help us out.

We kind of expect our Scouts and their parents to work the Tree Lot, we also owe a special thanks to all of the younger brothers (and some older brothers), sisters and grandparents who helped work, hung out, or got stuck being at the Tree Lot this year.

My brother and I were in Troop 151 in the 70s and early 80s and fondly remember the tree lot on Roosevelt. I started selling trees there at six. It was so easy to sell at that age and the troop funded everything on that one event (the trees were donated). My folks and I were talking about it tonight so I looked you up to make sure 151 was still around.